'Tada Ban Law' Finally Passed in National Assembly Plenary Session... Tada Service Impossible

To Maintain Service, Pay Contribution and Obtain Platform Transportation Operator License
CEO Park Jaewook Asks President to Exercise Veto on "Tada Ban Law"

On the 5th, with the implementation of the Passenger Transport Service Act amendment, known as the Tada Ban Act, just around the corner, a 'Tada' vehicle is parked at a garage in Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul. Photo by Moon Honam munonam@

[Asia Economy Reporter Jin-gyu Lee] The Tada Prohibition Act (Amendment to the Passenger Transport Service Act) passed the National Assembly plenary session on the 6th. As a result, Tada, which launched in October 2018, faces the risk of being halted by the National Assembly's barrier just one year and five months after its launch.

On the afternoon of the same day, the National Assembly held a plenary session and approved the amendment with 185 members present, 168 in favor, 8 against, and 9 abstentions.

The amendment stipulates that when renting a van with 11 to 15 seats, driver dispatch is only allowed if rented for tourism purposes for more than 6 hours or if the return location is an airport or port. With the amendment passing the plenary session, after a grace period of one year and six months, the current 11-seat van call service 'Tada Basic' will no longer be able to operate normally in Korea.

If Tada wants to maintain the Basic service as is, it must follow the 'taxi total volume system,' which requires paying a certain contribution fee according to the number of vehicles and obtaining a license as a platform transportation operator to increase vehicles within the permitted scope.

In response, Tada has declared 'service suspension,' protesting that the regulation is unacceptable. Park Jae-wook, CEO of VCNC, the operator of Tada, appealed to President Moon Jae-in on the afternoon of the same day, asking him to exercise his veto power over the Tada Prohibition Act. He emphasized, "I write this on behalf of 12,000 drivers and 1.72 million users," and stated, "The decisions of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and the National Assembly betray the President's words and will." He also pleaded, "Please help so that the 12,000 Tada drivers do not lose their jobs and the 100 young innovators are not pushed out of their workplaces."

Lee Jae-woong, CEO of Socar, also wrote on his Facebook, "The bill that should be discussed and handled first now is a livelihood bill for people suffering from the COVID-19 economic crisis, not the Tada Prohibition Act that threatens the livelihoods of 10,000 drivers and the mobility rights of 1.7 million metropolitan users," and urged, "The National Assembly should oppose the passage of the amendment."

Meanwhile, Tada is expected to decide whether to shut down all Tada services due to the passage of this amendment or to give up only Tada Basic and operate the business focusing on the premium taxi call service 'Tada Premium.' Currently, Tada owns about 1,500 vehicles, including approximately 1,400 Tada Basic vehicles and about 90 Tada Premium vehicles. CEO Park recently stated, "Tada will soon suspend the Tada Basic service depending on the judgment of the legislative body."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.